Collectibles and More - Consignment Sales
Photo Submitting Tips

Figure 3 is out of focus and blurred. Compare this example to Figure 1. Here are some suggestions to avoid blur.

All cameras have a minimum focusing distance. Though most cameras today focus automatically, there is a minimum distance under which the lens cannot focus on the subject. That distance varies between cameras and it may be as little as a foot or so. In some cases, it can be longer. If you try to take a picture with the camera closer to the subject than the minimum focusing distance, the lens will not be able to focus and the picture will be blurred. Consult your camera manual to find out what that distance is.

You are trying, rightfully so, to maximize the size of the subject in the picture and you do so by moving closer to the subject. Don't get closer than the lens can focus. It is better to back up more and then after the picture is shot, it can be cropped to "zoom" in on desired parts of the picture. Again, going back to the previous subject, don't worry about doing that if you are unfamiliar with the process. I can do that here.

Do not move the camera during the shot. This may sound like the obvious but it is an extremely common mistake. Rather than gently and smoothly squeezing the shutter button, many people snap on it with a hard jerky motion which actually causes the camera to move during the moment of exposure. Learn to press gently.

The nice thing about digital cameras is that you have instant feedback on the quaility of the photograph we just made. Be careful about relying too much on the digital display on the camera itself. It is useful, but detail which will be revealed when the picture is displayed on a much larger computer screen may not be seen on a small camera back display. If the camera has a feature to zoom you can use it to zoom in on the subject and as it grows larger on the little screen, you can see if it is going to be sharp on the computer screen. Be aware, however, that even a sharp picture if zoomed in too much on the camera display will appear blurred. The best judgement is made with the picture viewed on the computer screen.

Whatever you do, learn to recognize the difference between a sharp picture and a blurry picture. Believe it or not I have had photos submitted to me which were as blurry as the one above in Figure 3. When I suggested to the sender that the picture was too blurred to be useful, they responded that it looked ok to them. It cannot look ok to anyone. It is blurry and it does not look like the picture in Figure 4.

Too much Flash. You may be better off turning off the flash in the camera if possible. If you are too close the light from the flash will wash out the picture. Depending on the lighting within the room the picture is taken you may need flash. Additionally, often pictures taken without flash will exhibit color tones which don't look quite natural. The camera is picking up the color of the lighting in the room which in most homes is incondescent. That tends to add a little yellowish cast to the pictures. That problem can be corrected within the camera settings. If that is an area you are not familiar with, do not worry about it. It can also be corrected in good digital photo editing computer software. I can fix problems such as that here.

I cannot fix a problem such as Figure 5 exhibits. The highlights (brighter lit areas) are washed out and there is nothing left to work with. If there are questions about what I mean by "washed out" lool at Peter's left arm in Figure 5 and compare it to his arm in Figure 4 just above. Compare the side of his face in both pictures. So what color is the "skin" on the real figurine? If you are a potential buyer looking at Figure 4, it looks white. We know that it is not white but the buyer looking at the picture does not know that.

Back up from your subject more. How much you may need to back up depends on the specific camera, the room lighting, the reflective properties of the subject, and other camera settings. Remember, if the picture is sharp enough and the picture file is larger than the final version of the picture we want to have, it can be cropped so that the desired parts of the picture occupy most of the picture area.

Sometimes moving a little to one side, that is shooting the subject from a different angle may help minimize flash over exposure. Expermenting is the key. Look at the pictures while they are still on the camera. You can see over bright areas even on the camera display. Don't be satisfied with less than the best pictures you can take. Delete a picture if it has suffers from any of the problems talked about here. Shoot it again. This is one of the real benefits of a digital camera. You don't have to wait for your pictures to come back from the lab to see them. You have instant feedback and you can throw away a bad one and shoot it again and you're not paying for the cost of film and processing.